QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OCCUPIED ARAB TERRITORIES, INCLUDING PALESTINE

Note verbale dated 19 January 1988 from the Permanent Mission of Iraq to the United Nations Office at Geneva addressed to the Commission on Human Rights, transmitting letters dated 2 and 10 November 1987, 14 December 1987 and 18 January 1988 from the Permanent Observer of the Palestine Liberation Organization to the United Nations Office at Geneva addressed to the Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights

The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Iraq to the United Nations Office in Geneva has the honour to enclose herewith copies of five reports issued by the Palestine Liberation Organization in Geneva, relating to the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. The Iraqi Mission would highly appreciate it if this report be circulated as an official document of the forty-fourth session of the Commission on Human Rights.

Annex I

LETTER DATED 2 NOVEMBER 1987 FROM THE PERMANENT OBSERVER FOR THE PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION
TO THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT GENEVA ADDRESSED TO THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

According to appeals launched by the Palestinian prisoners detained in the prisons of A1-Fara'a and Hebron, the conditions of detention in these two prisons have been seriously deteriorating for the last months.

Systematic use of physical and psychological torture, beating and spraying rooms with gas, have become daily practices by the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian prisoners in these prisons, making the conditions of their detention unbearable.

Before these grave violations of the most elementary human rights of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, we request you to take the necessary steps in order that this information is brought before the next session of the Commission on Human Rights.

LETTER DATED 10 NOVEMBER 1987 FROM THE PERMANENT OBSERVER FOR THE PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION
TO THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT GENEVA ADDRESSED TO THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON SUMMARY OR ARBITRARY EXECUTIONS

I am writing to you following receipt of a letter sent to me by His Excellency Mr. Jan Martenson, Under-Secretary-General for Human Rights on 30 September and referring to Economic and Social Council resolution 1987/60 of 29 May 1987, entitled "Summary or arbitrary executions", by which the Council decided to renew your mandate for another year, in order to enable you to summit further conclusions and recommendations to the Commission on Human Rights.

In this respect, I enclose herewith a list of cases of deliberate murder perpetrated by the Israeli occupation authorities against Palestinian citizens in the Occupied Territories, within the period between 24 February 1985 and 28 October 1987.

I do hope that the contents of this document will be useful to you within the framework of your mandate, and that they will appear in your report to the Commission on Human Rights in its next session.

Arbitrary acts of murder by the Israeli occupation
authorities in the occupied territories during the
period from 24/2/1985 to 28/10/1987

No.

Date

Circumstances

1.

24/2/1985

The child Issa Muhammad Issa from Gaza was shot and killed by the Israeli occupation authorities during the funeral of Fathi al-Gharbawi at Bureil came in the Gaza Strip.

2.

14/3/1985

Maryam Muhammad Hussein Ghannam from al-Majd was killed when she was struck by bullets fired by occupation troops during military exercises in the area.

3.

30/3/1985

Ihab Muhammad Salih Manna' {18) from Nablus died of his wounds after being shot by the Israeli occupation authorities during the peaceful demonstrations held in the occupied territories in support of the convening of the Palestine National Council at Amman on 27/11/1984.

4.

28/6/1985

Nazim Hasan al-Rimawi {22) from Beit Rima disappeared after leaving his father's house on 14 June. His body, found in a cave on 1.8 June, was mutilated, indicating that he had been tortured before being killed.

5.

18/7/1985

Khalil Rajah Abu Mutawi' {48) from Gaza was found murdered at the settlement of Beit Yam, where he had been working on a construction site.

6.

30/7/1985

The bodies of Rashid Muhammad Abu Mutawi' and Ahmad Muhammad Mahmoud Masa'id from Tubas were found near the settlement of Elon Moreh in the vicinity of Nablus, 50 metres from a dumping site for scrap vehicles. The investigation showed that an explosion had occurred in the rear of the Peugeot car in which they were travelling. Rashid (24), who worked as a teacher at al-Najah University, and Ahmad {26), a farmer, had disappeared the previous Friday and were found by chance.

7.

8/8/1985

The bodies of Riadh Mahmoud Hussein {26) and his wife Fatima (23) were found in their burnt-out car. They had been stabbed.

8.

18/8/1985

Nur Abdul Khaliq Rajah (26) was shot and killed by Jewish settlers in his house at Khan Yunis on 16 August.

9.

21/8/1985

Abdul Rahman Imran (321 from Khan Yunis was shot and killed by Jewish settlers the night before last while he was on his way home.

10.

8/9/1985

Ahdul Moneim Anis Abu Shalahi (36) from Khan Yunis died after being shot by Jewish settlers in front of his house.

11.

4/9/1985

Khalil Ulayyan Abu-1-maid (42) from al-Mu'askarat al-Wusta was found murdered at a construction site at Belt Yam where he was working as a night-watchman. The circumstances of his death are obscure.

12.

12/9/1985

Issa Muhammad Ahmad Masa]imeh, a businessman from Bethlehem, was strangled by a Jewish settler, who tried to overturn his car to cover up the crime.

13.

14/9/1985

Jamal Mahmoud Kheir ad-Din (52) from Jabalia camp was found murdered yesterday morning. The blood-stains on his mouth and his head indicated that he had been tortured and struck with a blunt instrument before his death.

14.

18/9/1985

Mundhir Awadh Ibrahim Abdul Aziz from Gaza was shot and killed by the Israeli occupation authorities.

15.

18/9/1985

Ahmad Mahmoud Awadh Allah Shaheen (43) from Jabalia camp died at Ramleh prison as a result of torture by Israeli intelligence officers.

16.

20/9/1985

Mundhir Awwad Abdul Aziz from Gaza was arbitrarily shot and killed by occupation troops in Umar al-Mukhtar Street at Gaza.

17.

23/9/1985

Ayman Fakhr Farhan Jundiya (6) from Gaza and his father were wounded two days ago when Israeli occupation troops opened fire on the car in which they were travelling. Although the father was not severely wounded, the child Ayman subsequently died of his wounds at Surouk Hospital at Beersheba.

18.

29/9/1985

Musa Abu Sbeitan {501 from al-Tor was found murdered on the morning of 29 September in a deserted building in Saiah ed-Din Street, Jerusalem.

19.

20/10/1985

Sashar Darwish Sufyan from F1-Bireh was killed when a bomb was thrown at his house.

20.

22/10/1985

Abdul Nasir Muhammad Mahmoud Saba'ineh (18) from Qubatiya was found murdered on the Jenin-Nablus road near the village of Bir al-Basha.

21.

12/11/1985

The body of Rahhah Abu Aziza (58) from Gaza was found on a construction site at Belt Yam. He had been murdered.

22.

14/11/1985

The body of Ibrahim Abed Ismail from Haifa, who disappeared on 15 September, was found only two kilometres from his place of work at Dinita. The circumstances of his death are still obscure.

23.

23/11/1985

Ahmad Iqbal Ahmad al-Hindi from Sur Bahir died under obscure circumstances in the Israeli prison at Ashkelon.

24.

3/12/1985

The lawyer Aziz Boulos Shahhadeh from El-Bir.eh died after being stabbed by an unknown assailant while returning home at about 7 p.m. on 2 December.

25.

6/12/1985

The bodies of Shahir Abu Rumaila {31) and Tariq Qandil (29) were discovered in the fields of the settlement of Sadot Mikha near Belt Shemesh. They had been shot with bullets from a 9 mm revolver.

26.

21/12/1985

Hasan Abdul Halim al-Faqih (27) from B1-Sireh, a journalist working for the newspaper al-Fajr, who disappeared 79 days ago, was found in the hills near the settlement of Beit Horon 12 km from Ramallah. He had been murdered.

27.

27/12/1985

The body of Fuad al-Kurd {30) from Deir el-Balah was found near the cemetery at Gaza on 26 December. He had been murdered.

28.

2/2/1986

Zafir al-Masri was assassinated when he was about to enter the municipal administration building. He was seriously wounded by shots fired at close range by Zionist extremists and died while being transported to hospital.

The body of Salim al-Duhun {26) from Jabalia camp was found near his car on 23 March. He had been shot in the head.

33.

25/8/1986

Naji Abdullah Abu Ali Suy from Artas was found dead. He had been stabbed in the neck while grazing a flock of sheep.

34.

14/9/1986

Two Israeli soldiers shot and killed Maysir Jamil Umar Heim (35), a pregnant mother of nine children, in front of the Ibrahimi shrine in the city of Hebron, where she was going to pray.

35.

21/9/1986

Ismail Ghassan Abu Lubdeh (19), a labourer from Rafah, was shot and killed by the Israeli occupation authorities.

36.

12/11/1986

Asaad Sulaiman Hammoudeh from Beit Lahayya was shot and killed by the Israeli occupation authorities.

37.

16/11/1986

Jihad Harb Fayyadh Salim al-Salalim from Kafr al-Sumou' died after being hit by three bullets fired from inside an army camp near the village of Huwara in the district of Nablus.

38.

22/11/1986

The body of Muhammad Abdullah Khalil al-Tayih (22) was discovered on the morning of 22 November near his home at Kafr Ni'ma. He had been murdered two weeks earlier.

39.

4/12/1986

Sa'ib Mahmoud Ahu-l-Dhahab, Jawad Abu Salima and Kamal Radhi were killed when Israeli occupation forces stormed Bir Zeit University and opened fire on students on the campus.

40.

6/12/1986

Majid Ahu Dharra' (14), a student from Balata camp at Nablus, was killed when Jewish settlers shot at him from a speeding car.

41.

7/12/1986

Muhammad Zeitun {121, a student from Balata camp at Nablus, was shot and killed by the Israeli occupation authorities.

42.

9/12/1986

Ahmad Sulaiman al-Kalouti (25) from Abu Dis died after being shot in the head at his home.

43.

27/1/1986

Ahmad al-Astal from Khan Yunis was shot and killed by members of the Border Guards.

44.

19/2/1987

Samih Ibrahim Khurusheh from Askar camp died after being hit by a hail of bullets fired by Israeli occupation forces at Nablus near the Industrial School in the vicinity of the camp. The occupation authorities claimed that he died when his car crashed into a wall. However, according to the military field reports, he lost control of his vehicle after being wounded by the occupation troops, who continued to shoot at him after he got out of the car.

45.

23/2/1987

Jihad Salam Abu Jarrad from Beit Lahayya, who was returning to the Strip in his car, was killed on the spot when he came under heavy fire from occupation troops manning the "Ears" road block established at the entrance to the Gaza Strip.

46.

2/3/1987

Israeli occupation forces fired at random on a group of citizens, killing Ahmad Fair Faris from Nablus, who was hit in the head by two bullets.

47.

6/4/1987

Tariq Yasin Hashim al-Hammouri, a student at the engineering College, died in obscure circumstances at Ramleh prison.

48.

13/4/1987

Musa Mishah al-Hanafi (22) from Rafah, a fourth-year student at the Faculty of Arts of Bir Zeit University, was killed when 400 occupation soldiers and Jewish settlers stormed the university campus and fired sub-machine-guns at the students. Seven of the students were wounded. The occupation forces prevented ambulances from entering the town to help the wounded.

49.

26/5/1987

Awadh al--Tagtuq, a young shopkeeper at Nablus, was killed after being struck by three bullets fired by occupation troops. These bullets, of an internationally prohibited type, hit him in the head, shattering his skull and scattering his brains on the ground.

50.

5/6/1987

Assam al-Arnadi {15) from Nablus was shot and killed by occupation troops during the strikes that were organized throughout the West Bank on the twentieth anniversary of the Israeli occupation.

51.

18/6/1987

Halima Muhammad Hussein Abu Ravyan from the town of Halhul died when an Israeli driving a truck at an insane speed deliberately swerved off the road onto the pavement, hitting the woman, who was killed on the spot.

52.

2/7/1987

A group of Israeli extremists killed a Palestinian citizen visiting Tel Aviv. He was stabbed several times in various parts of his body while walking along a street in the city. While admitting that the crime had occurred, the occupation authorities concealed the identity of the murderers on the pretext that they had succeeded in escaping.

The freedom-fighter Awwad Abdul Salam Muhammad Hamdan was killed at Jenin prison, where he was being detained and interrogated by Israeli intelligence officers.

55.

2/10/1987

Israeli occupation troops assassinated three Palestinian citizens at the entrance to Bureilj camp to the south of the city of Gala. The victims,Muhammad Illayyan Ali, Muhammad Abdul Rahman Ahu ribald and Misbah al-Surf, were forced to get out of their car and were then shot. The Israeli newspapers published on 16 October 1987 admitted that these three persons had been killed. The newspapers Ma'ariv and Yedioth Aharanoth reported that dozens of shots had been fired at them from the front, not from behind. The left eye of one of them had been ripped out, the face of another had been disfigured and their bodies showed clear signs of the torture to which they had evidently been subjected before being killed.

56.

28/10/1987

Ishaq Abu Surur, a student, died after beinq shot in the head by a soldier when Israeli forces stormed Bethlehem University and fired random shots at the students.

Annex III

LETTER DATED 14 DECEMBER 1987 FROM THE PERMANENT OBSERVER FOR THE
PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION TO THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT
GENEVA ADDRESSED TO THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

The Commission on Human Rights is well aware of all Israeli practices and violations of human rights in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, as described in the report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Arab Occupied Territories. This time, however, the situation is more critical than ever before. Indeed, since Tuesday, 8 December, the Israeli occupation forces seem to have lost any control, systematically killing and injuring Palestinian unarmed civilians all over the Occupied Palestinian Territories, totally disregarding all United Nations resolutions and all provisions of international law.

On Tuesday, 8 December, an Israeli settler intentionally hit with his truck two cars full of Palestinian workers stopped at an Israeli army check-point, killing four persons - Issam Mohammad Hammoudi (aged 29), Shaaban Sayed Nabhan (26), Kamal Kaddoura Hammouda {23), and Taleb Mohammad Abdallah Abu Zait (41) - and injuring another three - Said El-Garbawi, Ali Mohammad Abdallah Ismail and Issam Sobhi Ismail Al-Eaten (aged 18 and very seriously injured in the head). Most of the victims were from Jabalia camp (Gaza Strip). Following this crime, the inhabitants of Jabalia camp tried to protest peacefully, but the Israeli occupation forces opened fire on the people, killing and injuring many, and imposed curfew on the camp.

This aggression provoked a wave of protest in all the localities of Gaza Strip, including Beit Al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah. The Israeli occupation authorities sent troops in these areas, with instructions to open fire on the demonstrators, thus causing more casualties among unarmed civilians.

These new crimes perpetrated by the Israeli troops led to more protest actions in all the West Bank as well as in the city of Nazareth.

On 10 December, the Israeli troops opened fire against the inhabitants of Balata camp (Nablus area), killing four persons among which two women, and seriously injuring one woman, Ula Mustapha Salameh, and another 40 persons.

On the same day, in Nablus, one person was killed and many were injured by the bullets of the Israeli occupation army.

On 10 December, five Palestinian students were injured by bullets in Khan Younis.

On the same day, in Qalandia camp (Jerusalem area) students clashed with the Israeli troops. When the inhabitants of the camp went to support the students, the Israeli soldiers opened fire injuring 25 people. Another 15 people were injured in Hebron and one killed in Nablus.

On 12 December, 20 more people were injured in Gaza, and tens of people were injured in Rafah, Khan Younis, Jabalia, as well as in Ramallah, Hebron and Jalazoun camp. In Jerusalem, the Israeli army opened fire on demonstrating schoolchildren.

On the same day, the troops raided a number of houses in Dheisheh camp, throwing tear gas into the houses.

On 13 December, the Israeli troops continued their violent actions against the Palestinian population in Gaza, and imposed curfew on Balata camp and Ein Belt Ilma. On the same day, during the curfew, the Israeli soldiers raided over 200 houses, beating women and children. Moreover, in Hebron, a girl student was seriously injured by the Israeli soldiers, during a demonstration around the University.

Since 9 December, the Israeli troops have been surrounding the Jabalia camp which remains under curfew. Nobody is allowed to enter or leave the camp; moreover, the Israeli soldiers shoot at the water tanks on the roofs of the houses, thus trying to cause water deficiency and cause more suffering to the inhabitants of the camp.

Today, 14 December, 18 years old Younis Jarbouh was shot dead by the Israeli troops in Khan Younis, and Ahmed Abdel Fatah Jamali was wounded.

In addition to all these violent actions, the Israeli occupation forces prevent the ambulances from carrying the injured people to the hospitals, arrest ambulance crews, and prevent people from giving blood to the injured, following the appeal of the medical teams. Last but not least, the Israeli troops attacked the Shifa Hospital (Gaza city) on Saturday, 12 December, and hit the people inside the hospital, including the wounded patients. They also closed down the emergency wards of Nasr Hospital (Khan Younis) as well as the emergency ward of the "Women's Union Hospital" in Nablus, thus seriously impeding the rescue operations of the medical teams.

So far, since the beginning of the wave of aggression, 24 people have been killed by the Israeli occupation troops, and 139 people have been injured, some of them seriously, and violence still goes on. Most of the Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as a number of cities are still under curfew.

Before this critical situation, showing once more the total disregard by the Israeli occupation authorities of all United Nations resolutions, and the resolutions of the Commission on Human Rights, we request you to inform the Commission at its next session of all these facts.

We also request you to consider the present memorandum as well as the list attached herewith, as an official document of the coming session of the Commission on Human Rights.

LETTER DATED 18 JANUARY 1988 FROM THE PERMANENT OBSERVER FOR THE PALESTINE
LIBERATION ORGANIZATION TO THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT GENEVA ADDRESSED
TO THE UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

On Friday, 15 January 1988, the Israeli occupation forces attacked a number of mosques in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. More particularly, the Israeli troops stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and opened fire on the worshippers gathered for the Friday prayers. The Israeli troops used live bullets as well as gas-bombs to attack the worshippers. The gas-bombs were made in the United States of America, carrying the mention: "Causes burns - kills people - use forbidden inside closed places". During the attack, about 100 people were injured and parts of the Mosque were burned.

By this new attack, the Israeli occupation authorities violated General Assembly resolution 36/55 dated 25 November 1981, in which the Assembly proclaimed the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, as well as Commission on Human Rights resolution 1987/15 dated 4 March 1987, on the implementation of this Declaration.

We, hereby, wish to request you to consider the present memorandum as an official document of the forty-fourth session of the Commission on Human Rights.

(Signed) Nabil RAMLAWIDirectorPermanent Observer of the Palestine
Liberation Organization to the
United Nations Office at Geneva

Annex V

LETTER DATED 18 JANUARY 1988 FROM THE PERMANENT OBSERVER FOR THE PALESTINE
LIBERATION ORGANIZATION TO THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT GENEVA ADDRESSED
TO THE UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Since 8 December 1987, the Israeli occupation authorities have been perpetrating the ugliest crimes against the Palestinian population of the occupied West Bank aad Gaza Strip, in an unprecedented campaign of violence and terror.

This new Israeli aggression against the civilian inhabitants of the West Bank and Gaza Strip has resulted, so far, in 64 dead, 1,500 wounded and 6,000 arrests, as well as the deportation of four Palestinian citizens of the West Bank.

Once more, the Israeli occupation authorities are disregarding international will and violating the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the provisions of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, particularly article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

We, hereby, wish to request you to consider this memorandum as an official document of the fourty-fourth session of the Commission on Human Rights.

(Signed) Nabil RAMLAWIDirectorPermanent Observer of the Palestine
Liberation Organization to the
United Nations Office at Geneva